Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has announced a minor reshuffle among the committee chairpersons within the green chamber.
During the plenary session on Wednesday, the Speaker reappointed Mike Etaba, who represents the Obubra/Etung federal constituency of Cross River, shifting him from the Committee on Public Petitions to chair the Committee on Environment.
Bitrus Laori, the lawmaker from Adamawa, previously chairing the Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa, has now been appointed as the chair of the Committee on Public Petitions.
Billy Osawaru, a lawmaker from Edo, who served as the deputy chair of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation, has been designated to oversee the Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa.
Etaba’s redeployment comes just days after the Committee on Public Petitions summoned Hyacinth Alia, Governor of Benue, and Dauda Lawal, his counterpart from Zamfara, concerning the political crises affecting their respective state legislatures.
The committee also extended invitations to the speakers and leadership of both state assemblies.
These summons were issued following a petition from the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, a civil society organisation (CSO), requesting the governors and speakers to clarify why the House of Representatives should not assume the functions of the assemblies.
The investigative hearing was slated for May 8.
In response, the governors stated they would not comply with the summons, arguing that the federal parliament lacks the authority to summon them.
Additionally, some civil society organisations (CSOs) have voiced their opposition to the summons, contending that the committee cannot invite governors due to their immunity and their accountability to their respective state assemblies.
On Wednesday, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria expressed its disapproval of the summons.
Adebo Ogundoyin, chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, characterised the summons as an “overreach of constitutional powers” and a “direct challenge” to Nigeria’s federal structure and the autonomy of state legislatures.
He stated that the national assembly’s investigative and oversight powers, as outlined in sections 88 and 89 of the constitution, are “limited to federal matters”.
Ogundoyin further noted that the state legislature operates as an independent arm of government, asserting that presiding officers cannot be summoned concerning internal legislative issues—unless a “clear constitutional or federal matter” is involved.
